Wrench having convex fulcrum detent quickly shiftable along handle rack



Ap 11, 1950 N. w. WARMAN 2,503,784

WRENCH HAVING CONVEX FULCRUM-DETENT QUICKLY SHIFTABLE ALONG HANDLE-RACK Filed March 24, 1947 INVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 11, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WRENCH HAVING CONVEX FULCRUM DETENT QUICKLY SHIFTABLE ALONG HANDLE RACK 1 Claim.

a way that the movable jaw of the wrench can.

be quickly adjusted to a position against the side of a pipe before the actual clamping action is applied to the wrench.

In applying the invention to a wrench such as referred to, I provide a lever, at the end of which a jaw is mounted or formed for engaging the side of a pipe, and the supporting means for the lever presents a fulcrum on which the lever is rocked when the clamping force is imparted to the jaw at the end of the lever.

One of the objects of this invention is to construct the lever and the fulcrum member in such a way that while an effective rocking movement can be attained, the lever can be readily shifted along over the fulcrum so as to bring the clamping jaw carried by it, quickly in contact with the pipe, after which the force exerted laterally upon the lever, will operate to swing the relatively movable jaw toward the fixed jaw of the wrench, that is engaging the opposite side of the pipe; also to provide means cooperating with the lever to maintain the lever yieldingly in contact with the fulcrum.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wrench of this type, with a relatively movable jaw that is mounted on the end of the lever in such a way that it adapts itself automatically as it were, to the curved face of the pipe or other round object which is to be clamped, held, or rotated by means of the wrench.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combinations of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficient quick-action wrench.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is an elevational view, viewing the wrench from the side, but showing portions of the wrench partially in section as viewed on the section line l-l of Fig. 2.. This view shows the inner end of the clamping lever partially in section, and also illustrates the wrench as applied to a pipe, which is shown in cross-section.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the wrench shown in Fig. 1, with the outer portion of the handle broken away.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the wrench head partially broken away, and shown in section. This view illustrates the shank of the lever disconnected from the fulcrum member on which it rocks, and in a position to enable the lever and its shank to be moved away from the fixed jaw to enable the wrench-to be applied to a pipe of relatively large diameter.

Referring more particularly to the parts, the wrench includes a head I preferably having substantially the features of construction illustrated, that is to say, it includes a relatively fixed jaw 2, presenting a clamping face 3 with transverse ribs or serrations that particularly adapt it for engaging and biting into a side of a round object, such aS a pipe 4.

The wrench head includes a guide extension 5,

which is connected to the fixed jaw 2 by an integral neck 6. This guide extension presents a relatively wide slot 1, presenting two flat guide faces 8, between two side plates or wings. The shank ll] of the wrench lever II, is of substantially rectangular cross-section, and its side faces fit neatly against the faces 8 of the guide extension 5. The slot or opening between the guide faces 8, is closed at the lower rounded, or lobed, end I2 of the wrench head, by a fulcrum member l3. This fulcrum member and the adjacent edge M of the shank Ill, are constructed so that detent means on the fulcrum member can engage any of the teeth 15 that are formed along the edge Hi. In order to effect this working connection between the fulcrum member I 3 and the shank I0, I prefer to employ a plurality of fixed teeth disposed on an arc and projecting from the adjacent edge H of the fulcrum member, and disposed on said are in such a way that the edge I! will not interfere with the free rocking movement, that is, a rolling movement of the lever on these teeth. In the present instance, I have illustrated three of these teeth [6, and I have disposed the edge I! along a convex line or curve. This gives considerable clearance at the two points 18 and I9 between the curved face or edge I! and the adjacent edge M of the shank. These detent teeth it are preferably inclined in the general direction of the fixed jaw 2, and the teeth 15 of the shank preferably incline in the opposite direction so that these teeth can interlock with each other in somewhat If desired, the end of the shank l may have jaw teeth formed directly upon it, but I prefer to mount the relatively movable jaw 21 of the wrench on the end of the shank, by means of a pivot bolt 22. In order to effect this mounting,

I prefer to form the jaw with side flanges 23 that lie against the side faces of the shank. In this way, a socket is formed at the back of the jaw to receive the end of the shank. The end face We of the shank is preferably slightly inclined and permits a slight amount of wobble of the jaw on the pivot. (See Fig. 1.) So, this jaw is freely movable through a small angle on the pivot 22, and its outer face or edge 24 is preferably concavely curved on a radius that is substantially as large as the radius of the largest size pipe on which the wrench is to be used. This concave face or edge 2 1 is provided with a plurality of serrations or teeth 25, which incline inwardly toward the neck 6 and away from the open side or throat 26 through which the pipe that is to be clamped, is introduced.

If desired, the fulcrum member i3 may be formed integrally with the wrench head, but I prefer to construct it as a separate piece that fits into place between the side plates or wings S of the wrench head, and secure the same in position by through bolts or rivets 21 that pass through the same.

The wrench is preferably provided with means for yieldingly holding the shank H) with its serrated edge M in contact with the detent teeth of the fulcrum member. For this purpose I may form the forward end of the slot 1, with an inclined edge or end face 28 to be engaged by swung back and forth, it will move freely on each backward swing, but will clamp the pipe and rotate it on each forward swing. This enables the wrench to operate with a ratchetlike action that is conducive to speed in operation.

The bolt 22 is of the same type as the bolt 3!, that is to say, it has a threaded tip and a head at its other end, but in this case the head need not be countersunk into the side of the jaw. As the shank l0 completely fills the space between the inner faces 8, it will be evident that the jaw 2i operates as a stop to prevent the lever l i from being accidentally pulled out of the wrench head. However, if it is ever necessary to remove the lever, this can be accomplished by taking out the bolt 22 and disengaging the jaw 21 before slipping the shank out of the head.

Many other embodiments of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

In a wrench, the combination of an integral U-shaped wrench head having inner and outer leg portions and a connecting web portion, a rigid jaw on said outer leg portion, a continuous longitudinal guide slot in said head extending from the free end of said inner leg portion to its other end and into said connecting web portion, a detent block mounted within said slot adjacent the free end of said inner leg portion, a handle with a shank having front and rear sides. and two flat sides for guided movement in said slot. said shank having a jaw secured to its inner end confronting said rigid jaw to cooperate with the same to clamp an object therebetween, said dotent block having a convex edge disposed toward said shank with several inclined rack teeth formed on the same confined in extent to the middle portion thereof, said teeth inclining in the general direction of said first-named jaw; said front side of the shank having corresponding inclined rack teeth to engage the rack teeth of the block, and enable the shank to rock upon one end 29 of a coil spring 30, the body of which 5 the same, a pin extending across the web pcrtion.

is held on a through bolt or screw 3| that passes laterally through the neck portion 6 of the wrench head. The other end of this spring 30 extends longitudinally over the shank, and preferably is bent around to form a bight 32 that presses down against the adjacent edge of the shank.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be evident that after the shank Ill is shifted toward the left (which is freely permitted by the inclined teeth) so that the movable jaw 21 engages the side of the pipe 4, if a force is applied to the outer portion or handle 33 of the wrench in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 1, the shank ill will rock on the teeth at l6 as a fulcrum, and this will move the inner end of the lever l I toward the fixed jaw 2. As this end of the lever moves further into the throat, of course the concave edge of the movable jaw 21 will apply itself to the adjacent side of the pipe 4. This will jam the pipe against the fixed jaw 2, and clamp it firmly; and any increase in the force to rQtate the lever ll after the clamping action has occurred, will of course effect a rotation of the pipe on its own axis.

It will be evident that if the wrench lever is of said slot beyond the rear side of said sha v and a spring mounted on said last named I and exerting pressure on said. shank to urg the same toward the block; fastening means for securing said block rigidly in the slot at said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 132,819 Eaton Nov. 5, 1872 126,223 Virgien Apr. 22, 1890 4.46547 Goodnow et a1 Feb. 17, 1891 520,529 Klose May 29, 1894 542,265 Klose July 9, 1895 1,037,387 Wilkinson Sept. 3, 1912 1,243,210 Parmenter Oct. 16, 1917 Caponegro et a1. Feb. 28, 1928 

